Riptide awoke to the sound of Marrok screaming. His vision was darkened but the sounds of Marrok’s wails broke through the darkness piercing through his ears. He attempted to flap his wings but they were tied down to a steel table, as was the rest of him. Riptide closed his eyes and reopened them, hoping to see through the dark. What he saw was appalling.

There was a pony standing over top of Marrok viciously tearing through his chest cavity. The sound of breaking bones and blood splattering caused Riptide to throw up. He was propped up on the steel table, letting the vomit spill out on the floor. He looked up again and saw Marrok lash out but metal bonds restrained him and kept him at bay. Soon he saw Marrok’s eyes and they stared at each other. No words were exchanged, but they knew what they were saying to each other with the looks.

Their expressions told each other one thing. Goodbye, brother. Marrok calmed down and closed his eyes, his wails still echoed through the room as the torturer continued. A tear rolled down Riptide’s cheek, questions swirled in his mind. He wondered if his Mother was even looking for them. Riptide lifted his head and looked around the room. Only three Originals accounted for, Dracula was missing.

Riptide came back to reality when he heard hoofsteps approach him. A pony stopped in front of him and Riptide was dumbfounded at the stallion that stood in front of him. It was Dark Specter. A black Phantom with bright glowing red eyes, that was not right, Riptide knew that Specter had grey eyes. Then he knew that something was controlling him to do this.

Specter just stood there, staring at Riptide. Riptide felt uncomfortable, his bright eyes peered through him. He then heard somepony enter the room. He could sense the magic in the one that entered. It was powerful and dark. Riptide tried to suppress it, but he knew that tonight would be the night he died.

Chrysalis personally carried unconscious Shining Armor. She did not trust any of her drones to carry him. Chrysalis opened the doors to a different torture room. One more decorated and suited for torture. A dungeon in the castle of Canterlot itself. Despite the light hearted feeling that the rest of the castle gave, the dungeon had gave the opposite feelings. She slammed his body on a steel table and strapped him in. His mane still blue and his bright gold and purple armor glistened in the torchlight.

Finally Shining Armor woke up with a groan. He felt humiliated that he went down so quickly, now he had deaths on his hooves. He looks up squinting his eyes at the bright torchlight.

The figure standing over him was Chrysalis. She said with her face darkened,”I am so glad you have finally awoken. I can finally start.”

She looked different. Chrysalis was now part shadow and her eyes bright red. That and he sensed great power inside of her. Armor glared at Chrysalis as he said,”What are your plans this time Chrysalis?”

She cackled and she said,”Oh the plans I have in store for you. You recently destroyed King Sombra. Well, long ago me and him made pact to work together and take over Equestria. However we were only successful in taking Shadow Garden. We did not count on the Spirits of Harmony intervening. When you killed Sombra he came to me and gave me and my drones his power. To succeed where he failed. He made us more powerful.”

“Why did you not kill me?”Armor asked,”Truly you feel so much hate towards me that you would end me once you saw me.”

Chrysalis ran her hoof down his cheek and she said,”I hate you too much to do something like that. No, your end will come in time. For now I must fulfill a promise I made to a friend.”

She leaned down and whispered in Armor’s ear,”I am going to reincarnate King Sombra in your body.”

Chrysalis leaned back and Armor’s face was dumbfounded. He wasn’t counting on something like that to happen. Chrysalis held up a knife and said,”Let us begin the preparations shall we.”

Before she started Armor asked,”What is Shadow Garden?”

“Why it is where the Children of the Night live,”Chrysalis said hovering the sharp knife over one of his hooves.”And don’t worry. You will see them soon.”

She thrust the cold knife deep in his foreleg and cut along it all the way to his shoulder. She continued on the rest of his limbs and each time he howled in even greater pain. It was then and there that was the first time he cried for mercy. But he knew that there was no mercy left in Chrysalis’ heart.

She cut the straps on his armor exposing his chest. She then thrust the now bloody blade in his chest, engraving a strange symbol unknown to him. A rune of some kind. His strength officially left him after that. Too weak to barely breathe, no amount of training had prepared him for this. She removed the blade from his bloodied body and watched as blood drained from his chest and limbs. Dripping into a small pool underneath the table. Chrysalis put down the knife and turned back over at Shining Armor. She began chanting something in an unknown language to him. His vision grew dark and his eyes closed shut.

Chrysalis began chanting and the wounds on Shining Armor began to glow red energy. It continued to glow until she drew to the end of the chant and her magic glowed a black color and as did the energy coming out of Shining Armor. She finished the chant and her magic continued to glow. The energy coming out of Shining Armor began to envelope him, she wished he was still conscious so she could hear his screams of pain. But she can imagine quite a bit.

The energy began to levitate him breaking the metal bonds. Suspended in mid air a wave of force erupted from it and shot everything away. Chrysalis managed to keep her footing but reeled. A darkened form of Shining Armor levitated down with the dark mist dissipating. His eyes were closed and finally they were shot open, revealing Sombra’s dark glowing green eyes. He laughed and said,”I have returned.”

Riptide howled in great pain. The torturer began to experiment on him. Sticking needles in his head into his brain and testing something. The needles were connected to wires into a machine. The first torturer only injected him with stimulants, making sure he would not fall unconscious. This one was another of a Children of the Night he recognized, Doctor Victor Frankenstein. His coat was a dark grey and his eyes a bright purple. His mane was rough and wild and so was his tail, they were a bright white color. His cutie mark was a tesla coil.

Victor winced and said reading a screen,”Yes interesting… Oh my very interesting.”

Riptide said with heavy breathes,”Why are you doing this Victor?”

Frankenstein looked up at Riptide with mournful eyes and said,”Chrysalis and I made a deal. She would fund my work and in return I would do her bidding. Whether it is making more drones or…(gulp) torturing my brothers and sisters.”

His talent as a Child of the Night was immense knowledge of creation and science. He could animate any dead animal or pony. Until one day he decided to create instead of reanimate. That creation was known as Subject Z, for valid reasons. But it became uncontrollable and unpredictable and Luna banished it to the Everfree Forest. She could not destroy it, it would have caused Victor to abandon Shadow Garden and for him to try and make another one. That night on he was never allowed to animate again. Only to reanimate dead Children of the Night.

Victor continued and said,”She also agreed to bring back Subject Z. To further continue my work. So to make it so that I don’t try to do something brash she enchanted my mind with a fraction of Sombra. He has told me he loves my work and only wants to see me grow my knowledge. I am terribly sorry Riptide. And I am sorry to Mother, wherever she is.”

“You don’t have to do this Victor.”Riptide pleaded,”You were respected in Shadow Garden…”

“I was a laughing stock.”Victor snapped,”My brothers and sisters laughed at me from that night on. I was never respected. I was the black sheep. An outcast. A psycho.”

Victor lowered his head and blew out a heavy sigh and said,”Again I must say. I am sorry. I just want to continue my work.”

“For the longest time I have known you I never understood how your special power works. But now I believe I have solved the mystery. But lets see if I am correct.”

Victor punched in a few things on the keyboard in front of him. Then Riptide felt a sting inside of his mind and he cried in pain. His eyes glowed bright blue and a wave of water exploded through on of the windows. Victor slightly smiled and now found out how Riptide used his powers. Now he needed to learn how to extract it. Victor grabbed a scalpel and walked to Riptide and said,”I am sorry for this.”